Файл: Lilia Raitskaya Stuart Cochrane.docx

Less developed countries

What do we mean when w<. s.i\ a country is W< c</'>/»< </V The I "nit ed Nations uses three measures life expectancy education and real individual income. It we use these measures t<. describe the world, we quickly understand that only a privileged few live in developed countries Poverty, for instance, causes the deaths of about ЛО.ООО children every day. Over billion people cannot read or w rite. Half the world earns less than SJ a day. Clearly, most of the world's Imputation live in less developed countries. But why is development so difficult for these nations'?

There are талу reasons Some countries lack the raw materials and capital needed for growth ( hliers regularly suffer from natural disasters such ;iv droughts ami floods Diseases sik !i as cholera and AIDS are widespread in many less developed countries. This causes suffering to millions of individual-, ami families, but it is ;iiso disastrous for the economies of these nations l.aek of education also holds back development This may 1ч- because governments cannot afford to provide schools and colleges However, millions of families in these nations are caught in a poverty trap. This prevents their children from getting a basic education even when it К available Without quality human capital, these economies cannot grow

Political insecurity is another reason for underdevelopment. Many of these countries belonged to colonies in the past When the foreign powers finally left, these countries ofien fill inti- years ol political instability and war. Fveil when peace comes to these countries, political corruption makes development difficult as there is still a climati of political instability. Foreign companies do not want to invest in a Country which suffers from corruption. Similarly, foreign governments are reluctant to give aid when they see that their money is spent badly or simply disappears

All of these problems make it very difficult for less developed countries to improve their economies. However, there are other more complex issues which hamper development. The rirsi of these is debt The second is unfair trading. Many people l>elieve that these two problems are the cause of all the other problems that developing countries face.

Many I if the world's poorest countries arc trapped in a cycle of debt. This is because they need to borrow money in order to pay the interest on debts they already have. The poorest M> countries owe many hundreds of billions of dollars. However, tlie у spend more money paying off d_< bis than they receive in aid. I'nless these debts are i ancelled, these countries will never escape the cycle

After years ot slow development, it is hard for poorer countries to compete with develojK-d countries for international trade Without mature industries of their own, they must rely on c\]>oris primary gixxls These primary goods do not earn as much money as the products that developed countries export. What's more. because poor countries rely on grants from rich countries, they are often forced fo spend the money on manufactured imports This means they cannot buy the things they really need: capital go.чК to help their economies grow.

104 >,. Ou.d. to (<»»»..<. Unit »

в В Comprehension

Now read the text again and choose the best answer А, В or С to complete each sentence.

■ The majority of people in the world live ... " in developed countries m less developed countries, on loss than a dollar a day.

Natural disasters and disease ...

happen more often in less developed countries.

art¹worse in less developed countries, have a serious impact on the economy of less developed countries.

Children often can't get an education because ... • there's not enough human capital. 1 governmeivts don't *«ieh to provide it their families art? poor. Political instability... I prevents investment, causes war. causes corruption.

The poorest 60 countries ...

receive many hundreds of billions of dollars in aid annually.

receive less money tn aid than they spend on repayments.

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spend less money on repayments than they receive in aid. Less developed countries are not able to spend enough money on ... primary goods, capital goods, imported goods

Before you listen

Discuss this question with your partner.

Less developed countries have received aid (loans and grants) for decades. However, then economies have not grown.Why do you think this is?

0 С Listening *)))

Listen to someone talking about this problem. They mention four reasons why aid often doesn't help. What reasons are mentioned? As you listen, make notes about each reason.

1

2

3

Before you read

Discuss this question with your partner.

•* Those pictures are all connected with Russia in the 19th century. What do they show?

В D Vocabulary

Complete each sentence with a word from the box.

authorities emancipation engineering estates feudal illiterate landlord/landlady leap peasant serf subsistence textile

In a system, landowners owned the

land and the people who worked on it.

The Eiffel Tower is an amazing piece of

Л person who makes their hvinq from farming a small piece of land is often called a

People who cannot read or write are

Someone who owns property and rents it to others is a

A was a person who belonged to the

owner of land.

The aristocracy own large areas of land called

farming means you only just

manage to survive on what is produced.

The industry produces cloth, cotton

and wool.

The people vvho rule the country are sometimes called the

is another word for jump.

People have to be free - their is

necessary.

The Russian economy in the 19th century

Hie Russian empire grew enormously durum tin. P'th century, covering land from Poland in the West to the Pacific coast in the l ast The population also grew quickly. In economic terms this meant an increase in two of the lour factors of production: land and labour You nuuht think then, that the Russian economy at this time was booming. Hut until the isoos. this was not true at all Compared to other important powers likt Britain, France and America. Russia's economy was hopelessly underdeveloped \Yh> was this so'r

The main problem was Russia's feud.il economic system. Almost SO per cent ol the population were peasants I'hev either worked on land owned by the si.in 01 they were serfs. Serfs worked land that belonged to a small number of wealthy landlords In return lor a small piece of land and a place to live, serfs had t<> work lot their landlords. In lacl. tlu serfs didn't just work for tlu ir landlords tbe> belonged to them.

This system did not encourage economic growth. Peasants' labour was used in subsistence tanning tor their families or working to maintain their landlord's estate. Without surplus goods, there were no profits or savings. With no savings, domestic investment for growth was not possible. Russian agriculture still used the most basic technology, and almost the whole workforce was unskilled and illiterate.

In addition, the empire's industrial base was poorly developed. Helbre 1 S5<». there were relatively few factories, mostly producing textiles. Sonic factories were run by the state, but many were run on the estates of landlords Industrial technology was basic, and engineering education was not encouraged by the authorities.

To make matters worse, the < Crimean War from IS5Л to IS5o had weakened the Russian economy even more. Eventually, the Russian authorities realised that they had to do something about the economy. The empire was now surrounded by- modern industrial powers. Russia had to make an economic leap into a new age.

The first step was the emancipation of the serfs. Tsar Alexander 11 finally made this happen in lv»I This meant that the population was no longer lied to the land and could provide labour for industry. Willi foreign investment. Russia began to build up Us industries. The iron and steel industries grew rapidly. Mining of raw man rials increased and industrial centres developed along the Поп and Dnepr rivers The output of the iron and steel industries helped to build a huge railway network, including the Trans-Siberian railway.

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106 M 4 « m i rt (» . } • r • t ~ U ^ ' t JO

(с .ill continued and by the lWDs the Russian economy was experiencing a real Ixiom. From tivi pi r cent in the lS(>l)s. annual grow th reached nine pet cent in the 1 VHXs higher than anywhere else in Eurojx- at the time However, much of the growth was built with foreign debt Agricultural methods and technology were still primitive. And what about the economy's human capital? The exploited si rl's had now Ix-conu exploited factory workers. The majority of the population remained totally illiterate and desperately jxtor With the turn of the new century, how much longer could tin boom continue*

fij E Comprehension

Now read the text again and answer these questions in your own words in the space provided below.

What aspects of the Russian economy increased in the 19th century?

Give throe reasons why Russia's economy was underdeveloped.

What two thniys helped the Russian economy grow?

How did ordinary people's lives change after industrialisation?

f

Notes:

V У

Before you listen

Discuss this question with your partner.

What do you think life was like for the first factory workers in Russia and other European countries?

F Listening 4)))

Now listen and complete the summary by choosing the best word or number for each gap.

Russia's early industries used (1) serfs / slaves for labour. These people were forced to leave the countryside to work in the nation's first factories. When the serfs were emancipated in 1861. conditions did not improve very much. A (2) 12- / 10-hour working day was typical. Wages rose, but real value of those wages fell because of (3) exchange rates / inflation. Factories used many (4) part-time / seasonal workers who came from the countryside. They were often paid only (5) once / twice a year. Children were used as labourers in the (6) mines / fields and the textile industry. In the 1880s, about (7) 12 / 10 per cent of all textile workers were under (8) 12 / 15 years old.

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Are grants or loans the best way to help less developed countries grow?

Apart from giving grants or loans, how can developed countries help less developed countries?

Would you like to have lived in 19th century Russia?

What do you tlunk you would have found particularly difficult if you were a serf or peasant?

Task

Give a two-minute talk on less developed nations saying why they haven't developed quickly. First, read text 1 again and your answers for the listening exercise on page 104. Make notes below about the following.

the causes of underdevelopment

why many countries have so much debt

В G Speaking

why aid doesn't always help

what these countries need in order to develop

Notes:

Letter from history

Remember, this is a formal letter:

Begin 'Dear Sir,' and finish 'Yours faithfully,' or 'Dear Mr Witte,' and finish 'Yours smcerrly,'

Do not use contractions (eg 'is not' should be used instead of 'isn't')

Use some or all of these words and expressions:

I am writing in order to ... Furthermore ..

It was disgraceful to see ...

I would appreciate it if you could look into this matter.

GREETING

PARAGRAPH 1

Say that you are writing to complain about conditions in the factories.

PARAGRAPH 2

Explain where you went and why. Say what you saw there (age of the workers, conditions of the factory, conditions of accommodation for workers).

PARAGRAPH 3

Explain more about the pay workers receive and the hours they have to work.

PARAGRAPH 4

Say what you want the Minister to do m order to improve conditions.

Thank him and sign off Write 150-200 words

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Pronunciation guide

Privileged 'pm.Mki^d Mature ladji moll^u) Instability пылЫЬп Cholera knbn> Insecurity tnsikiiw.iti Debt dot Owe ло

Crimean Warкгапшлп w.xFeudalTjuxil

Labourer 'кчЬлгот

H Writing

Imagine that you are a factory inspector for the Russian government in l890.You visit a textile factory and you are shocked by the conditions. Write a letter to the Finance Minister, Sergei Witte, telling him what you saw and what you want him to do about it.

Before you read

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Loo* at the photos opposite:

Where were these photos taken?

What can you see?

T

LQ

-* What recent changes in Russian life do they show?

A Vocabulary

Match the words and phrases with the definitions.

A very high inflation

financial help from the government for a business

change

something that other people want

. managed by the government

very strict or cruel

basic things like food that everyone needs

! to grow very big very quickly

; things that people buy but don't really need

falling apart or collapsing

very difficult times poverty

someone who lives and works away from their home country

1 salaries or pensions that do not grow with inflation

expatriate consumer goods

state run thardship

reform severe subsidy

crumbling

staple goods

fixed incomes i to balloon hyperinflation

enviable stabilise

become steady, unchanging

Contemporary Russia: the fall and rise of the market economy

Л reeent survey compared the cost of living for expatriates in cities around the world. Not surprisingly, the top ten most expensive cities included Tokyo. London and New York. Hut more expensive than any of these was . . Moscow! Less than two decades ago. Moscow was the heart of the world's biiSgest planned economy There was no property lor sale hack then. The state-run shops had few consumer goods. Shortages for simple things like shoes were common. Today, things could not (ч more different Moscow is the centre of a free market w ith some of the highest property prices in the work! I'lie state-run shops have been replaced by expensive shopping centres and designer stores. Hut the change has not been easv

108 и i ,- Г1 . ! t n С» л 'J •I ОF ' у Г- -i У » . -. 21

The figures for Russia's real gross domestic product since 1⁽W|. when the economic reforms began, show that the economy has Ik-cu on quite a roller- coaster ride. In 1W1 < il>1" was over S.^SO billion. That fell dramatically year after year until 1WS. when <il)P was just over S22'> billion. However, the situation improved again from In fact, Russia's ( H)P increased steadily year after year from 1W9 until 2"<^> when it reached around S7Ю billion. What caused such a change of fortunes?

< "hanging over to a completely different eeonomie system could never lx' painless The Russian government of the early lWiis decided to use a shock therapy approach. They introduced severe fiscal and monetary policies. The government drastically reduced its spending. It cut subsidies to its crumbling state industries. Interest rates and taxes were raised. (lovernment price controls on nearly all consumer goods were lifted. ()nly ptiees for staple gocxls like f<xxl and energy remained controlled by the government. New laws were introduced to allow private ownership and businesses to exist.

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All of these measures were intended to create conditions for a market economy to grow. However, they also caused great hardship for ordinary people. Most workers at that time were on fixed incomes. The measures caused the cost of living to rise, but their salaries did not rise at the same rate. I'o make matters worse, events in the banking system in caused the money supply- to balloon. This resulted in hyperinflation levels of J.DOOV Despite Russia's enormous reserves of oil and gas. the economy went into a long and difficult depression, finally, in lWS, when an economic crisis hit the East Asian Tigers, oil prices began to fall around the world. For Russia, it turned a depression into an economic crisis.

However, from 1'>'>'>. world oil prices began to rise again Mostly with money earned from energy exports. Russia began to pay off its foreign debts Inflation fell and the value of the rouble stabilised. The economy was recovering. (il)P grew steadily year after year, and foreign investors began to show confidence in investing in the country. Moscow's place at the top of the list of the world's most expensive cities is not enviable. However, it is a clear sign that the Russian economy has survived a difficult time

в? В Comprehension

Now read the text again and match each paragraph with the correct heading.

PARAGRAPH ;

PARAGRAPH •

PARAGRAPH

PARAGRAPH 4

PARAGRAPH

Recovery Drastic measures IJps and downs Hard times Then and now

Before you listen

Discuss this question with your partner.

-> Has everyone benefited from the changes in the Russian economy in recent years? Thmk about who is better off and who is poorer.

0 С Listening 4)))

You're going to hear three people expressing their views on the winners and losers in the Russian economic reforms. As you listen, make notes in the table.

	Winners	Losers
People
Industries
Places

Before you read

Discuss these questions with your partner.

What do you think arc Russia's main exports and imports?

Where do you suppose most goods that you buy in Russian shops these days are made?

-* Do you have any idea which is Russia's strongest industry today?

ff D Vocabulary

Complete each sentence with a word or phrase from the box.

arms broke ties with domestic consumption fall back on infrastructure open to privileged elite run down Socialist Bloc the future holds ■ turnover

Factories become if management

don't look after buildings and invest in new equipment.

Nobody really knows what but you

should make plans anyway.

Marty countries make lots of money selling

like tanks and guns to

foreign arnues

. In the West, the communist countries of the USSR were called the

When he left the company, he all

his old colleagues.

It's good to have some savings to

during hard times.

The company was very my proposal for

a new range of ptoducts.

Most of the wealth in modern industrial countries is owned by a small

Products for are only sold in the

country where they are made.

• The means the roads, railways.

power and communication networks that industry needs.

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